Dancing Queen: Young and Sweet, Graduating

The Authors
Joy Ashford '18, Contributing Writer

Published online
June 28, 2018 5:00pm

This May, I’ve been working on a dance and film project with my roommate, Linda. I am so grateful that the school gave us the opportunity to work on this project for our externship, as it has both stretched our artistic and collaborative skills, and given us a way to say something meaningful about an issue that matters to us in our last month of high school.

In a lot of ways, this project feels like a culmination of all the things I have learned at Episcopal. First, I’ve had the opportunity to put the dance technique I’ve worked on with Ms. Brieanna Bailey and Ms. Zari Davis, our new dance teachers, to good use. From splits to double turns to more personal qualities like grit and leadership, these two people have helped me to grow so much in only a short span of time. At the beginning of the year, choreographing a longer solo piece would have seemed impossible, and their help and advice throughout the year made it a bit less intimidating. In addition, the writing instruction, mentorship, and guidance I’ve gotten from all of Episcopal’s amazing English teachers has made the written part of the project possible, and helped me to expand my definitions of poetry and “good” writing. Finally, I’m grateful to the faculty advisors and members of Spectrum and the teachers in our theology department, who gave me the courage to dive into our topic – the intersection of sexuality and religion – without fear. Making this film has been a great way to end my time at Episcopal. I hope that if you’re interested, you’ll take the time to watch it later this week and make up your own mind about the ideas that we’ve presented—and maybe dive into a creative project that means something to you as well.